I'm redoing all the electrical in my entire house, and I was running some numbers just for fun on the energy efficiency gains by just having LED, vs incandescent bulbs. I know the basic LEDs use much ...

I work with a food pantry at my church. We receive food on the first Thursday on the month and distribute food to those in need on the following Tuesday. We have several chest freezers which we use to ...

I've been getting very high electric bills since moving in last August. My winter months have averaged $350/mo and so far this spring has been the same. I live alone, work 8 hours a day, do 2 loads of ...

I've done as much research as i can an every site i hit seems to have a different story on my question: "Will a dehumidifier save energy while running your AC through the summer"?
The ones that say ...

In this question, I asked about the best type of insulation to use on a hinged metal attic door, when one is also concerned about heat entering around the edges of the door when closed.
The answer I ...

I am sure that the Energy Star program is not going to help me.
The USA Energy Star program helps people find energy efficient windows. It guides us to prefer windows with low U-Factor and low solar ...

We moved to a 2-bedroom apartment that has baseboard heating devices installed. Our first electricity bill was huge (around $400) and we only used 3 of them and not all day long.
Here is a pic of the ...

I would like to lower my environmental impact and reduce my energy bills by reducing areas where air might be entering or exiting my home.
What type of device can be used to detect where heat or cool ...

During winter we run a gas-powered heater and evaporative humidifier to maintain indoor air quality.
Meanwhile, every day (big family!) we run a gas-powered clothes dryer which dumps hot, humid air ...

Thermal downdraught on windows is a fact of life. I understand the mechanics involved, but that doesn't make it any more comfortable!
Short of replacing the glass in my double-glazed units with (yet) ...

My house was built in 1967 and has a real working fireplace. The problem is, it allows a ton of cold air into the house. There is a chimney cap (and I climbed up on the roof to verify it still works), ...

So we have a GE Refrigerator that's around 35-40 years old. Purchases between 1983-1985.
The fridge has not died yet. Yes i know, GE makes amazing stuff. And i was really thinking about replacing it ...

The TED 5000C monitors real-time electricity usage. This, however, isn't so useful if plugged into, say, a fridge, where, presumably, the bulk of the electricity usage is going to come from when the ...

Dehumidifiers draw a LOT of power (as you might expect of something which is basically a modified air conditioner or refrigerator). I do want the humidity in my basement kept at a comfortable level, ...

Since the arrival of our newborn, we have been using the stove to boil water in order to sterilize the nipples, bottles and rings.
Which got me thinking, is it more economical to start off using hot ...

I am in the middle of a deep energy retrofit of my house, and a quick-and-dirty online manual J calculation of the projected loads once my projects are completed shows an estimated heating and cooling ...

Traveling through Europe, seeing many different construction methods, I try to take an objective look at why things are done a certain way.
One of the most positive things that I see done in Europe ...

I can buy a ceiling fan from Home Depot capable of moving 5,000 CFM of air for about $50, and it uses a mere 50-60 watts while doing it. By contrast, most furnaces seem to have blowers that operate in ...

When I lived in France and the US, we can an electric boiler for hot water. It was "always on", probably with a thermostat.
Now I live in an area where most people have a power switch that they turn ...

Ive recently moved into a newly built house (im in the UK).
When I turn my bedroom light on it takes a long time to get up to full brightness which is quite annoying. Ive unscrewed the lightbulb to ...

My Kill A Watt P4400 by P3 International shows 3 watts electricity usage if anything is plugged in. Do things plugged in, regardless of whether they are ON or OFF, really use a minimum of 3 watts or ...

I was recently asked to look over the utility closet of a friend, and several things I saw looked very concerning, from an energy-efficiency standpoint. This closet is approximate 3' x 6', and is in ...

I've just received my annual gas usage statement. It came as a surprise to me that I'm using almost the average gas consumption in the UK. The average is 16,500kWh and I used 15,000kWh over the year.
...

Our house has two A/C systems; one for the bedroom level, one for the remainder of the house. The compressor/consdensor units are outside the south side of the house, and in direct sun all day, now ...

On the phone with a friend in Cali this morning. He said that some municipalities are requiring /4 (12-3 or 14-3 romex) wiring for all new construction or rewiring for overhead lighting components. ...

I have a 20+ year old, 115 gallon, electric water heater. Works like a champ, but I'm considering replacing it for a couple of reasons.
It's leased - I pay $20/mo.
It's 115 gallons for a house with ...

Hope this is a known one. New double glazing should be labelled, shouldn't it? But rather than getting new windows, are my uPVC windows fine? What checks? To elaborate - what should I look at on the ...

At some point in the future, I plan on owning a home and I would like to use landscaping to improve both the appearance and energy efficiency of the property. I have heard that the right landscaping ...